


A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

by Jgem87



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-26
Updated: 2011-09-26
Packaged: 2017-10-24 01:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 14,261
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/257402
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jgem87/pseuds/Jgem87
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vala remembers fun times with Daniel and her friends while making a scrapbook.  Be warned that some chapters are kind of sappy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue: Vala's Scrapbook

**Author's Note:**

> Most chapters rated G, a few are T.

Over the years that Vala had spent at the SGC, she had been collecting pictures to remind her the great times she had with Daniel and her friends.

She had now amassed so many that the boxes that she kept them in no longer seemed like a good way to store them. Originally, Vala had wanted to buy a nice photo album to show them in, but after discussing the issue with Sam, she was convinced to start making a scrapbook instead.

Vala gently stroked the deep violet colored cover of the empty scrapbook that she had chosen at the local craft store. She took out one of the many paint markers that she had bought and chose a silver one to write on the front.

She carefully formed the words: 'Vala's Scrapbook' on the cover with her marker. She was excited to start this new little hobby, so excited that she had gone a little bit overboard with the decorations she would be placing inside.

The SGC had been boring for her as of late. There were no current threats to Earth, other than minor dealings with the Lucian Alliance or rogue Goa'ulds, so while SG-1 still went out on missions, they had a lot more down time than before.

Vala was glad to have something new to try out instead of just annoying Daniel all of the time. Ever since they had started dating, she tried not to bother him quite as much. Sure, it definitely still happened, she wouldn't have it any other way, but she was trying.

Vala was trying to sort out all of her materials when Daniel came to her quarters.

"Vala? How's the scrapbook coming along?" He walked over and placed a small kiss on the top of her head.

She hugged him before answering. "I just started darling, all I have done is written on the cover and now I am trying to get everything sorted out, the materials, pictures, everything." Vala gestured to the mess of items lying on her bed.

Daniel chuckled at her. "Looks like it will be a nice little hobby for you. Now I don't want to see any naked pics of anybody in there okay?"

Vala slapped him playfully on the arm. "Haha, very funny."

He laughed with her and leaned down to kiss her. Vala smiled into his lips. Even though they had been dating for a while now, she still felt an intense chemistry between them, especially when they kissed.

They must have gotten a little carried away because the next thing that Vala knew, she was being tossed on her bed, all over her scrapbook materials.

She pushed Daniel off of her. "Darling! My stuff!"

He sprang up quickly, drawing her up with him. "Sorry, you know how I get around you." Daniel winked at her.

Vala kissed his cheek. "Yes, I know, 'cause I'm the same way around you. Now get back to your work! You have texts to translate!"

"You're telling me to go work? Vala, I'm shocked!"

She swatted him on the butt, laughing. "Go! Get out of here!"

They both laughed as Daniel exited her room.

Vala went back to her scrapbook, hoping to at least get everything all together, when Sam entered the room.

"Hey Vala, how's the scrapbook coming?" Sam smiled at her friend.

Vala threw up her hands in mock frustration. "Well it would be going better if everyone would quit interrupting me!" She laughed and invited Sam to sit across from her.

Sam rifled through some of the materials that Vala had picked out. "Any idea which picture or pictures are going on the first page?"

Vala sorted through her mass array of photos. "Hmm, not sure. I think I would like the first page to be of all of us together. Maybe of one of the times we all went out or something..."

Sam helped her to look through her photos searching for the perfect one. She stopped when she came across a picture of SG-1 plus Jack at Cameron's last birthday party at Jack's cabin.

"What about this one?" Sam grinned and held up the picture for Vala to inspect.

Vala smiled and grabbed it off of her friend. "That one is perfect!"

The two friends quickly got to work on the first page.


	2. Picture 1: Cameron's Birthday

Sam helped her to look through her photos searching for the perfect one. She stopped when she came across a picture of SG-1 plus Jack at Cameron's last birthday party at Jack's cabin.

"What about this one?" Sam grinned and held up the picture for Vala to inspect.

Vala smiled and grabbed it off of her friend. "That one is perfect!"

The two friends quickly got to work on the first page.

Vala carefully took the photo and adhered it to the very first page in her new scrapbook. She smiled at the picture of her with Daniel, Sam, Teal'c, Cameron, and Jack. Sam had set up the timer on the camera so that they all could be in the picture together. Jack and Sam were in the back with their arms around each other smiling into the camera. Seated on the sofa in front of them were Daniel, Cam, and Teal'c with Vala sprawled out across all three of their laps in the front. Somehow, everyone managed a nice smile with Vala grinning widely and Teal'c even sharing a rare smile for the camera.

The weekend of Cameron Mitchell's birthday, Vala went with the gang up to Jack's cabin. They arrived to find a huge cake (Jack O'Neill had always been a big fan of cake) and a fridge full of alcohol. Jack and Sam had spent the day decorating and Cam was pleased even though he said that he felt like he was at a child's birthday with all of the balloons and party hats all around.

Vala and Daniel had not started dating yet and they bickered most of the way through dinner, causing Daniel to have a few shots of whiskey and Vala having one too many frozen daiquiris.

Soon, everyone besides Teal'c was either drunk or buzzed and feeling good.

Vala took that opportunity to snap a party hat on everyone and have Sam take the picture. Originally, Vala was supposed to just sit in front of the sofa, but being that she was a bit tipsy from the alcohol and also that she just wanted to be close to Daniel, she stretched herself out with her head and upper body on Daniel, torso on Cam, and legs on Teal'c.

Daniel had, of course, complained at first. "Vala! Get off of me!" He tried in vain to push her away.

Vala just turned to him and straightened his party hat. "Oh stop it. I'm just lying on you for the picture, settle down."

Daniel huffed in annoyance, but at least he smiled for the photo.

After the picture was taken, they all sang happy birthday to Cam and dug into the cake.

Vala helped herself to a large piece.

"Jeez Vala, eat the whole cake why don't you?" Daniel motioned towards her slice.

Vala smirked back at him. "Oh I'm sorry darling, did you want some?" Before Daniel could answer, she pulled off a piece of the cake and smashed it right into his face, smearing it everywhere.

Everyone laughed at Daniel as he tried to wipe the cake icing off of his face and glasses.

"She really got you good Jackson!" Cam pointed and laughed at the seething Daniel.

Daniel's face had become red with anger, Vala waited for the inevitable yelling that was going to occur, but instead she was utterly surprised when Daniel just wiped some of the cake off of his face and smashed it right into her face.

"You...you got cake on me!" Vala squealed as she flicked icing off of her nose.

"You got cake on me!" Daniel countered and from then on out it was an all out war between them.

Cake was flying in all directions and when some of it flew past Daniel and landed on Teal'c's forehead they stopped.

The Jaffa merely wiped the cake off. "I do not believe that this is the customary way to consume cake."

They all laughed and Daniel and Vala called a truce and cleaned themselves up.

Vala had packed away a little surprise for the gang in her over-sized tote bag that she had brought with her. She went over to the bag and pulled out the box to show everyone.

Cam quirked an eyebrow at her. "Twister? The little kid's game?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, I learned on the internet that this 'kid's game' can be quite fun to play as adults too, especially while drunk." She winked at Cameron.

Vala got the game set up and Teal'c offered to man the spinner while Jack insisted that he was too old for such games and that he would have more fun watching Sam play.

The game began and Vala could not help but to tease Daniel.

"I'm going to beat you so bad. I can bend in ways you can't even imagine," Vala whispered in Daniel's ear as they both placed their left hands on red.

She was quite pleased when Daniel reacted by swallowing hard and not quite meeting her gaze. She hoped that she was making him think some naughty thoughts about her.

The game went on and Cam was the first one to slip and fall, almost on top of Sam. He swore out loud, but laughed and took a seat by Teal'c.

Ten minutes later and Sam wiped out as well, leaving Daniel and Vala to battle it out.

Turn after turn went by and the two still had not faltered. Vala was never a very patient person, so she decided that she needed to end this game. When right foot blue was called, she carefully placed herself in front of Daniel, preparing for her next move.

"Right hand green," Teal'c called out.

Vala smiled to herself and reached her hand down, leaning right in front of Daniel. Her low cut top showed ample cleavage as it was, but while she was leaning in front of Daniel, she knew that it gave his eyes access to see all the way down her shirt.

To give him credit, he kept his gaze away from her chest as well as he could, but when Teal'c called out the next move, he had to look.

"Damn," Vala heard him mutter as he got a good look at her chest.

It had its desired effect, Daniel's knees crumbled and he toppled down.

Vala jumped triumphantly into the air. "I win! I win!"

Daniel stood up and pointed an accusatory finger at her. "You cheated!"

She smirked at him. "How so?" She knew that Daniel would never admit that he was distracted by her chest.

"I...you...you just did!" Daniel sputtered as he straightened out his clothing.

"Jackson, we all know that you were lookin' down her shirt right before you fell." Cameron laughed heartily at his rapidly blushing friend.

Daniel tried to defend himself. "I was not!"

Everyone burst out in happy laughter at Daniel. Vala was very pleased with herself. That night had been a great time with her and her best friends.

Vala shook herself from her memory and smiled as she placed decorations around the picture in the middle of the page.


	3. Picture 2: Blackmail

After Vala and Sam had decorated the page around the first picture in the scrapbook, Sam was called away and left Vala to begin the next page herself.

Vala searched through her mess of photos until she came across one that she had completely forgotten about.

The photograph showed her with her head on Daniel's shoulder, sleeping. His head was leaned over hers as he slept as well. Vala smiled at the picture remembering how she had gotten it.

Daniel and Cameron loved to play jokes on each other, each trying to one up the other one. Daniel was convinced that Cam was dating Carolyn Lam on the sly and he was determined to catch them together. He wanted to gather some sort of proof that they were dating and hang it over Cam's head just to mess with him.

When Daniel told Vala of his little plan, she was only too happy to help him out. They had not started dating yet, but they were becoming closer and Vala spent every possible minute that she could with Daniel.

She was sitting on his desk one afternoon, swinging her long legs back and forth while he tried to write his mission report. Usually, her fidgeting would annoy him greatly, but he had a sly smile on his face that confused Vala.

"Darling? What are you thinking?" She stopped swinging her legs and looked at him in confusion.

He turned his chair to face her and grinned. "Cameron has an appointment with Dr. Lam today in a few minutes, for a physical."

"And?"

Daniel's grin grew even more wicked. "And, I'll bet she is giving him a physical, if you know what I mean." He winked at Vala.

She was shocked to here such innuendo coming from Daniel's mouth. "Umm, okay. What's your point?"

"Let's go spy on them." He held up a digital camera to show to Vala.

"You're hoping to photograph them in a compromising position?"

He nodded and smirked.

Vala's face lit up. "Naughty, naughty Daniel. I like this side of you."

He laughed and the two of them headed to the infirmary.

When they got close, they sneaked up behind one of the walls to look for Cam. Vala spotted him sitting on one of the infirmary beds with a blood pressure cuff on. She pointed him out to Daniel.

He put his finger to his lips, warning her to be quiet before peeking his head around to watch Cam and Carolyn.

Dr. Lam took Cameron's blood pressure and checked his mouth, eyes, and ears. After she was done inspecting his left ear, he whispered something to her which made the doctor blush.

Daniel and Vala looked and each other and grinned, stifling their laughter. When they looked back, Cameron had caught Carolyn in a passionate embrace, kissing her full on the mouth.

Vala let out a little squeak and Daniel glared at her.

"Quiet! I'm going to take the picture now."

He carefully placed the camera around the corner and quickly took the photo. After he had checked to make sure he had caught them in the act, he and Vala raced back to his office, laughing.

Later on that day, SG-1 was eating in the commissary when Daniel took out the photograph he had just printed out.

"Hey Mitchell, I found this interesting photo. Want to see?" Daniel tried unsuccessfully to hide his smirk while Vala covered her mouth to suppress her giggles.

Cam looked warily at Daniel and Vala. "Uh, sure. Let's see it."

Daniel help up the picture of Cam making out with Carolyn, dangling it in front of Cam's face.

"Where did you get that?" Cameron's whole body seemed to turn bright red almost instantly. He tried to grab the picture but Daniel held it away from him.

"Uh, uh, uh...I have some good blackmail on you now my friend. I'd like you to explain this picture to General Landry. I'm sure he would like to know that one of his best Colonels is making out with his daughter in the infirmary."

All of the team, minus Cam, burst out in laughter.

"I knew it!" Sam cried, pointing a finger at Cameron.

Cam was not amused in the slightest. "You are asking for it Jackson! I will get you back!"

Daniel was too busy laughing to care about Cam's threat.

A few days later, Teal'c was driving the team home from an early dinner at O'Malleys. Cam rode shotgun and Sam and Daniel were in the back with Vala squished in the middle.

Daniel was complaining. "How come I always get stuck next to Vala?" She was currently annoying him by poking his side.

Cam looked back. "Because you looooove her."

"I do not! She's a pain in the ass!"

Vala continued to poke him. "I am not! I'm actually just being a pain in your side right now." She laughed at her own joke.

Vala was still tired from their mission from yesterday, so she stopped poking Daniel after a few minutes and fell asleep in the car.

Daniel must have fallen asleep as well, because the next thing she knew, she was waking up with her head lying on his shoulder and his head lying on top of hers. She smiled to herself, not wanting to move or wake Daniel.

Unfortunately, they were soon back at the SGC and Daniel awoke with a start, causing Vala to have to move as well.

Cameron turned back around to face Daniel and Vala. "Aww, look, the two lovebirds are awake."

Daniel frowned at him. "What?"

Cameron held up an old Polaroid camera. "Got a nice little picture of the two of you all cozied up to each other."

Vala smiled. "Let me see!" Cam showed her the newly printed picture.

She thought that it was really cute. "I love it! Can I have it?"

"I don't think so Princess. This is my payback for the little stunt that Jackson played on me a few days ago."

Daniel groaned. "Please don't let anyone else see that."

"Well, I'll make you a deal. Give me the picture of me of Carolyn and I'll give you this one. Fair swap."

Daniel thought about it for a moment, wrinkling his brow. "Hmm, okay."

A little bit later on, the two exchanged pictures. Vala thought the Daniel would burn the picture or throw it away. However, a few months later when they had started dating, Daniel showed her that he had kept the photo.

It meant a lot to Vala that he had kept it. It meant even more that he gave it to her that night.

Vala found a few heart stickers and a nice red border to go around the picture of her and Daniel. She wrote the words: 'Me and my cuddlebug" underneath the picture. She smiled knowing that Daniel would have a fit if she ever called him that in front of anyone.


	4. Picture 3: Girls' Day Out

Vala smiled as she pulled out a thin strip of photos, the kind you get from photo booths at the mall, of her and Sam being silly on their day off.

Vala was sitting with Daniel in his office when Sam found her.

"Vala, Daniel, hello." She smiled at them as she made her way into his office.

Daniel barely looked up from his work. "Hi."

Vala grinned at her blonde friend and hopped off of Daniel's desk. "Hey Sam, what's up?"

Sam was holding several ads in her hands and she held them out for Vala to take. "I was thinking that you and I could have a girls' day out tomorrow. There are several stores having sales and we haven't been able to hang out together, just us girls, lately."

Vala grabbed the ads and immediately went to the Victoria's Secret one and flipped through it. A sly smile played across her face. She peeked over at Daniel and he looked over at her and blushed when he saw the ad in her hand.

"I'd love to go. We have some definite catching up to do!"

The two made plans for the next day to go to the mall and have lunch together.

The following afternoon, Vala and Sam collapsed onto some chairs in the food court and began unwrapping their burgers.

They had already visited several stores and needed sustenance before continuing.

Vala took a big bite of her burger, overflowing with cheese and toppings. "Mmm, after that little shopping spree, this burger tastes exceptionally delicious."

Sam nodded and took another bite of her own burger.

The two at in silence for a few moments until Sam put her burger down and looked over at Vala with a wry grin on her face. "So, spill."

Vala looked down at her hot pink tank top and wiped aimlessly at it before looking at her friend in confusion. "I didn't spill anything."

Sam burst out laughing. "No, it's just an expression. I meant to ask what has been going on."

"With what?"

Sam rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "With you and Daniel silly!"

Vala felt herself blush a little. She did not blush very often and she knew that Sam had to have noticed. "Umm...nothing."

The blonde wasn't so easily fooled. "Then why are you turning red? Come on, you can tell me..."

Vala sighed. "I'm not sure what you want to know."

"I saw you two leave the base together late last night. What was that all about?"

Vala smiled at her memory. "Oh, that, right. Well, I was up helping Daniel categorize artifacts late into the night and we both got really hungry. I suggested we go down to the commissary to get some food, but Daniel wanted to go to some diner nearby instead."

Sam nodded and motioned for her to continue.

"So he took me to the diner and we ate a massive amount of food," Vala giggled before continuing. "Anyway, we just ate and talked for hours, it was really nice. When we realized how late it was, we headed back to the base."

Sam frowned. "That's it?"

Vala smirked back at her. "I'm not done yet. When we got back, Daniel walked me to the door to my quarters and when I tried to close the door he caught it and asked to come in."

Sam practically jumped up from the table. "You had sex with him!" She pointed an accusatory finger at her friend.

Vala shook her head. "No, no we didn't. I mean, it's not like I don't want to, but there is no need to rush it."

Sam settled back down. "I see. So what did happen then?"

"Well when he asked to come in I was confused. I really didn't know what was going on. When I looked over at him, he an odd look in his eyes, like he was fighting some inner turmoil or something. After a long moment, he pulled me into a strong hug and when he pulled away he, uh, kissed me."

Sam grinned at her, but then frowned a bit. "Wait, kissed you how? Like a chaste friendly kiss on the cheek? Or a real kiss on the lips?"

Vala felt her blush deepen. "A real kiss. I mean that's how I took it. It didn't last too long, but it was sweet and tender and he smiled when he broke it off."

"So, are you guys like a couple now?" Sam leaned over and looked at Vala expectantly.

"Umm, well, I don't know. After the kiss, he just smiled and said goodnight and I haven't seen him since."

"Well, it seems as if maybe he is finally coming around. I will talk to him for you if you would like."

Vala nodded. "Please do, I'm very confused as to what to think."

The two finished their burgers and went on to do several hours more of shopping.

Vala dragged Sam into Victoria's Secret. "Come on Sam, if there is possibly going to be something between me and Daniel, I need some sexy lingerie."

Sam rolled her eyes but let Vala lead her into the store.

Vala roamed around, looking for the just the right items. After trying on about five different lingerie sets, she decided on a dark crimson, lace covered one. She smiled to herself, hoping that she would be able to show it off to Daniel soon.

After she had decided, Vala forced Sam to get something nice as well. Sam finally settled on a pretty blue set, too modest for Vala's taste, but nice all the same.

Exhausted, the pair decided to head out. As they neared the exit, Vala saw the photo booth.

"Sam! Let's get some pictures taken!"

Sam laughed and agreed and they stuffed themselves into the tiny booth.

Vala and Sam had had a great time together that day. They had shopped, ate, laughed, and gossiped.

As she looked over the photo strip, Vala smiled at their pictures.

The first was the pair with nice, normal smiles on their faces. In the next one, they were making goofy faces. The third one was of the two of them holding up their purchases from Victoria's Secret and the last one was the ladies with their arms around each other in a sisterly side hug.

Vala was extremely grateful to have a good friend like Sam.


	5. Picture 4: Siler's Wedding

The next picture that Vala came across was one of her and Daniel at Sergeant Siler's wedding. The photo showed a grinning Daniel placing the wedding garter on a giggling Vala's leg.

A few weeks after Vala and Daniel started 'dating', Sergeant Siler was getting married to his long time girlfriend Laura. He had invited all of the SGC and Vala asked Daniel to be her date right away. They had only been on a few dates so far, and had done nothing more than makeout with each other. She was really hoping that the wedding atmosphere as well as some liquid courage may help Daniel to take the next step with her. That step being telling everyone that they were dating and also, hopefully, getting past the kissing stage.

On the day of Siler's wedding, Vala shimmied into her new mint green dress, adjusting it so that it hugged her curves just right. She fluffed her hair and was spraying on her perfume when Daniel came to get her.

"Wow, you look amazing." Daniel eyed Vala up and down with a smile on his handsome face.

She laughed and placed a kiss to his cheek. "Thank you darling, you look quite smashing yourself."

He grinned at her and took her arm, escorting her out of the SGC.

The wedding itself was rather boring to Vala. She did not know Laura at all, and barely knew Siler. She was happy for them of course, but she just wanted to get to the drinking and dancing at the reception.

Vala sighed and ran her hand up Daniel's thigh.

He quickly pushed it away. "Vala," he hissed. "We are in a church!"

She shrugged and slumped into the pew.

Once the reception was in full swing, Vala's boredom faded away. She was enjoying her martini and made sure that Daniel was indulging in some alcohol as well. It was a well known fact that the archeologist could not hold his liquor and Vala planned to take advantage of that.

It was soon time for dancing and Vala immediately pulled Daniel onto the dance floor. She began to show off the new moves she had learned thanks to the internet. Daniel didn't seem very comfortable with the way her body was sliding up against his, but he did not shy away for once.

"So Daniel, when are we going to tell everyone that we are a couple now?" Her hand grazed his chest as they danced.

"Umm, I thought you said that Sam already knows..."

Vala huffed in annoyance. "Yeah, but what about the rest of the team? Are you embarrassed to be with me?"

Daniel frowned. "No, it's not that. I just really don't want to go through the relentless teasing that will surely follow such an announcement."

That was not the answer that Vala was hoping for. "Oh, I see how it is. Well thanks for the dance. I'm going to go find someone else to dance with now."

She stalked off, pretending not to hear Daniel call out after her. If he wanted to play games with her heart, she would play with his as well.

She quickly noticed that Cameron was free and went up to him. "Hey, dance with me?" She gave him a suggestive smile.

He glanced over at Carolyn, who was dancing with one of the Colonels. "Umm, sure Princess."

Vala made sure that Daniel was watching her as she grinded against Cameron.

"Whoa, what are you doing?" Cam stopped dancing and held Vala at arms' length.

"I'm dancing with you."

He shook his head. "You are trying to make Jackson jealous, I know you. Well I'm not going to help you play your games." Cam left her and went to find Carolyn.

That night was not going according to Vala's plan. She stormed off to sit at her table and drink another martini.

Sam came over to join her. "Hey, what's wrong?" She looked at her friend, concern in her eyes.

Vala blew her bangs away from her face. "Daniel is being...well...Daniel."

Sam look confused. "Explain?"

"I was really hoping that he would tell the team that we are a couple tonight. However, he seems very uncomfortable with that idea. It's like he doesn't want anyone to know that we are dating."

Sam sighed and put a comforting arm around Vala. "I don't think that that is what is going on. Daniel probably thinks that Cam and Jack will tease him about it. Also, he may be afraid to jinx it. He cares about you a lot, I promise."

Vala sniffled but nodded. "Thanks Sam."

The two friends talked for a while more before the DJ announced it was time for the bride to toss the bouquet.

Sam giggled and pulled Vala up from her chair. "Come on! Let's go!"

Vala followed Sam onto the dance floor and stood with the other women. Laura threw the bouquet over her shoulder and it landed right in Vala's arms.

The crowd cheered and Vala triumphantly held it high in the air. She glanced over to see Daniel with an odd look that she couldn't place on his face.

Sergeant Siler was next to toss the garter. The men lined up behind him, several winked at Vala as they walked by her. She gave them a flirty wave, determined to make Daniel jealous.

Siler tossed the garter and it landed on the floor in front of the men. Several guys lunged for it and mass chaos erupted as they scuffled on the floor. Vala peered around the crown to see who the victor was.

Daniel held up the garter and smiled slyly at Vala.

A chair was placed in the middle of the dance floor and Vala sat nervously on the edge of it. She had no idea why Daniel was giving her such a wry grin, but she was soon to find out. He sidled up to her and amongst the wolf whistles and cheering, slid the garter up her leg as Sam took a photo.

Vala couldn't help but giggle as Daniel hand tickled her thigh. She loved the way that his hands caressed her leg and how when the garter was in place, he lingered before pulling them away.

He helped her up and pulled her into his arms. Shocked, Vala looked up at him.

"Daniel?"

He didn't answer her. He just tipped her head up and kissed her, in front of everyone.

All of Vala's anger melted away in Daniel's passionate embrace. She held him tightly to her as he deepened the kiss, ignoring the crowd around them.

When they finally pulled apart, Daniel grabbed the microphone from the DJ.

"Hey everyone," he said as he walked back over to Vala and threw his arm around her shoulders. "I just want you all to know that this lady here is my girlfriend now and I love her more than anything. Oh and congratulations to the bride and groom!"

Daniel handed the microphone back and everyone cheered and clapped.

"Took you long enough!" Cam yelled smiling at his friends.

"Way to go Spacemonkey!" Jack chimed in.

Meanwhile, Vala was in a state of complete shock. Daniel hadn't even had that much to drink and he had just told every person in the room that he was in love with her.

She walked over to him and hugged him. "I love you too Daniel."

He smiled at her. "I have a present for you."

Vala watched him as he pulled something from his pocket to show her and held it up for her to see.

It was a room key to the hotel they were in.

Vala's eyes widened. A room key? Did that mean...?

He shuffled his feet nervously. "Umm, so what do you say we get out of here?"

She grinned. "That's the best idea I've heard all day."

Daniel took Vala's hand and they raced out of the ballroom together.

Vala smiled to herself, thinking of the amazing night that they had spent together, and the looks they had gotten the next day at the SGC were priceless. She laughed as she pasted the picture down on the page.


	6. Picture 5: Cameron's 'Makeover'

The next picture that Vala came across caused her to giggle uncontrollably. The photograph was one of Cameron Mitchell, recently startled awake and wearing bright blue eyeshadow, pink blush, ruby red lipstick, and black eyeliner.

SG-1 was on a mission to P93-092. Well, actually it was SG-1 minus Teal'c and Daniel. The Jaffa had discovered some old Goa'uld tablets that talked about system lords that he had never heard of before and Daniel went to meet him at the planet where the tablets were found.

So Cameron, Vala, and Sam went to P93-092 by themselves on an exploratory mission. The planet was uninhabited as far as they could tell, and after night fell on the first night, they decided to stay overnight and head back in the morning.

Vala was missing Daniel more than she knew she should. He had only been away for a week so far, but she felt so alone without him with her, especially when on missions.

Even though they had been dating for a few months, Vala was still in awe at how much she loved him and how much he loved her in return. Sure they still had their fights, and she still annoyed him on a daily basis, but her Daniel was an amazing man. He held her when she needed comfort, kissed her when she needed love, and bickered with her when she was bored.

She knew that Daniel often ran into trouble when he least expected it, so she was counting on Muscles to make sure that her Daniel came back to her in one piece.

Sam, Cam, and Vala hunkered down in one large tent for the night, spreading out their sleeping bags next to each other. They had spent the whole day exploring and needed a good night's rest before they ventured back to the stargate the next day.

Vala slipped into her sleeping bag and laid on her back, wishing that Daniel was there with her. She tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, listening to the sounds of Sam's breathing and Cameron's light snores.

It wasn't that Vala was not tired, but by now she was used to being cuddled up with Daniel by her side. He kept her constant nightmares at bay, and since he had been away, they had been plaguing her once again.

A few tears rolled down her cheeks and she sniffled as she wiped them away.

"Vala? You okay?" Sam turned to her with concern on her face.

Vala sniffled again. "I...I miss Daniel."

Sam sat up and scooted closer to her friend. "Hey, it's okay. He will be coming home soon."

Vala nodded. "I know, but I can't sleep. He keeps my nightmares away."

Sam gave Vala a small smile. "Aww, you guys are really close aren't you?"

"Yes, I mean we've been dating for a while now, but it's more than that. I'm really in love with him. He makes me happier than I have ever been before, and when he isn't around, I miss him desperately." She buried her face in her hands and tried not to cry.

Sam put her arm around her, but then snapped back with a wicked grin on her face. "I have an idea that I think will make you feel better."

Vala shuffled out of her sleeping bag to better face her friend. "What's that?" She had no idea why Sam had such an evil smile on her face.

"You have your bag of makeup with you right?" At Vala's nod she continued. "Let's give Cam a makeover!"

Vala was confused. Cameron was currently still asleep, face up, mouth open, and still snoring. "I don't think that we should wake him..."

Sam laughed lightly. "Oh we won't. He is a heavy sleeper. Here watch." She went over and snapped her fingers right in front of Cameron's face.

Nothing happened, the man slept on.

Vala giggled and pulled Cam's arm up and let it fall. Still nothing, he didn't even stir.

The girls ruffled through Vala's things until the found the makeup bag that Vala insisted that she have on her at all times, in case of emergencies.

Vala ran her hands over Cam's hair. "Oh Mitchell, don't worry, me and Sam will make you look so pretty!'

Sam had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter. She handed Vala the pink blush first.

Vala brushed the blush liberally over Cam's cheeks before going to the red lipstick. She held Cam's face in one hand while she applied the lipstick to his lips.

"Perfect," she exclaimed as she went on to watch Sam put the pale blue eyeshadow all over his eyelids and all the way up to his brows.

A few minutes later, the ladies admired their work.

Vala frowned. "It's missing something...hmm...I know!" She quickly found her black eyeliner and held it up for Sam to see.

"Oh, good idea!"

Vala smiled and carefully lined Cam's upper eyelid with the liner, making sweeping arcs off the side and onto his temples.

Finally finished, they decided that they needed a picture of their artistry.

Sam raised the camera and readied it.

Vala let out an ear-piercing scream.

Cameron woke up with a start and Sam quickly snapped the picture.

He didn't seem to notice the camera. "Vala! What happened?" He jumped up and went to reach for his gun.

"Oh, sorry Mitchell, I thought I saw a spider."

Sam was doing her best not to laugh, but she had to turn around so that Cam couldn't see her face.

Cameron looked annoyed and ran his hand through his hair. "Damn it Princess! I'm goin' back to bed." He slumped back onto his sleeping bag.

The next day, they all headed back to the stargate. Cam hadn't bothered to wash his face, or even look in a mirror and he kept giving Vala and Sam odd looks when they intermittently burst into laughter. He shook his head.

"Women."

Vala smoothed out the picture, laughing again at the memory of General Landry's face when he saw Cameron walk through the stargate and into the SGC.


	7. Picture 6: The House

Vala scrambled to find one of her favorite photos of her and Daniel. She finally located it at the bottom of the box, and she quickly smoothed it out. The picture was of her and Daniel with their arms around each other standing in front of a small white house.

Vala was staring out of the window impatiently as Daniel drove them to a destination unbeknownst to her.

She blew her bangs off of her face and turned to Daniel.

"Almost there darling? Where are we going anyway?"

He didn't take his eyes of off the road in front of him. "Yes, we are almost there. Be patient Vala. I'm not telling you where we are going, it's a surprise."

Vala huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms. The last 'surprise' that Daniel had for her was some artifact that he wanted help cleaning.

A few minutes later, the couple pulled up to a small white house. It was one story with a bay window in front and a nice sized yard lined with pretty pink and blue flowers.

Vala frowned. "Daniel! Why didn't you tell me that we were visiting someone? I would have dressed up!" She looked down nervously at her worn jeans, black tank top, and small jacket.

Daniel waved an errant hand. "We aren't visiting anyone. Just get out of the car."

Vala had no idea what Daniel was up to, but she exited the car and followed him to the front porch of the house.

She watched in awe as Daniel took a key from his pocket and began to unlock the front door.

"Daniel!" Vala hissed, looking nervously around her. "We shouldn't break into people's houses in broad daylight! What's gotten into you?"

He turned to her and laugh loudly. "We aren't breaking in."

Before she could say anything else, Daniel motioned for her to follow him inside the house. She quickly saw that the house was devoid of any furnishings.

Daniel turned to her and held her hands.

"Daniel?" She looked at him uncertainly.

He smiled. "My apartment is kinda small don't you think?"

She nodded.

"Well, this place is a nice size. Decent living room, eat in kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms."

Realization dawned on Vala and she grinned. "Daniel! You bought a house!"

He smile grew. "Yes, I did. But not for me." When she looked at him oddly he continued. "For us."

Vala blinked at him. He bought a house for them? Her heart was pounding loudly in her chest. That had to mean that he wanted them to be together for the long haul. She was insanely happy.

"Really?" Her voice came out in a mouse-like squeak.

He chuckled. "Yes really. Do you like it?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yes! Give me the grand tour!"

He took her hand and lead her through the hallway to the bathroom and bedrooms before finally stopping in the kitchen. There on the island counter top was a bucket of ice with champagne cooling in it. Two champagne flutes stood nearby, just waiting for Daniel and Vala to make use of them.

"Champagne! I love champagne!" Vala cried as her and Daniel walked over to the bucket.

"I know you do. I thought we could celebrate with a few drinks." Daniel popped off the cork and poured the fizzy beverage into the flutes.

"To our new home." Daniel lifted his glass in the air.

"To us." Vala toasted, as they clinked glasses.

The pair drank a few glasses of champagne as they discussed plans for their new house.

It was a well known fact that drunk Daniel was a frisky Daniel, and after a few drinks he practically attacked Vala with his lips.

She loved that side of him. The he couldn't get enough of her and her body side of Daniel was still pretty new to her and damn exciting as well.

She swiftly reciprocated his kiss and allowed his tongue entrance to her mouth. He deepened the kiss, pulling her as close to him as possible.

Daniel gently slid Vala's jacket off of her shoulders and began to kiss and lick the sensitive skin on her neck and then down to her collarbone.

She sighed in pleasure and pulled his shirt up over his head.

Daniel brought his mouth back to Vala in another passionate kiss, hands roaming everywhere.

Vala heard somebody clear their throat. "Ahem."

They sprang apart and turned to the intruder.

"Jack!" Vala raced towards the man and jumped at him.

He caught her in his arms and returned her eager hug. "Whoa there. Hi Vala, Daniel."

Jack nodded at the younger man.

Daniel smiled. "I didn't think you were going to be back in town until tomorrow."

Jack shrugged. "Got an earlier flight. You had said something about checking out the new house you got for you and Vala so I decided to stop on my way to the SGC. I saw your car in the driveway and let myself in. Good thing I didn't come like five minutes later." The older man winked at Daniel.

Daniel blushed a bit. "Yeah, I didn't think we were going to have company."

Vala was happy to see Jack again. He had been away for several weeks and she knew that Sam and Daniel had missed him a lot.

"Off to see Sam?" Vala winked at Jack knowingly.

He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling. "You know it! Now would you two like to show me the rest of the house? Oh and put on a shirt, will ya Daniel?"

Daniel laughed and pulled his shirt back on, handing Vala her jacket as well.

The two of them toured the rest of the house for Jack, who gave his approval.

Right before he left, Vala asked him to take a picture of her and Daniel in front of their new house.

Vala was really happy with how that photo had come out. She was beaming and Daniel was grinning widely as well. They were holding each other tight, two happy lovebirds and their new home.


	8. Picture 7: A Surprise Party For Vala

Vala located an envelope with several pictures in it that she wanted to use in her scrapbook. The first picture was of her, mouth open in utter shock and surprise. The second photo showed her blowing out candles on a large cake. The last picture was one of her and Daniel, where she was showing off her new bracelet he had gotten her.

When Vala was growing up, no one ever celebrated her birthday with her. The planet she was originally from did not put any special emphasis on birthdays, and once her mother had died, nobody ever even acknowledged that it was her day of birth.

Vala had been on Earth for a few years now, but every year on her birthday, SG-1 was always off world or otherwise occupied. Vala didn't really mind much, she was used to her birthday coming and going without any kind of special attention being paid to her.

This year on her birthday she had gotten up early to go shopping, a present to herself. Daniel had wished her a happy birthday and given her a good morning kiss, but that was all.

Now she was returning with several shopping bags in her hands. She unlocked the front door to her and Daniel's house and stepped inside, wondering why the house was bathed in darkness.

She sighed and dropped her bags, fingers scrambling along the wall, looking for the light switch. She flicked it on.

"Surprise! Happy Birthday!"

Vala jaw dropped as Sam took a picture of her. All of SG-1 plus Jack was in her living room, smiling and shouting birthday wishes at her. Balloons, streamers, and even a banner decorated the room, making it look festive.

Vala was still in a state of shock when Daniel came over, giving her a quick kiss. "Happy Birthday Vala." He hugged her, holding her close.

When they pulled apart, she grinned widely at him. "Is this all for me?" She motioned around the room.

Daniel chuckled. "Yes it is. You told me before that no one ever celebrated with you on your birthday and I thought that I would set up a surprise party for you."

A stray tear trickled down her cheek. "It's wonderful darling. Thank you, thank all of you!"

Daniel gently wiped her tear away with his thumb before kissing her again. "You deserve it."

Vala was extremely happy and grateful to have such an amazing boyfriend and friends. They had showed her that what true friendship was and it meant everything to her.

Everyone took turns hugging Vala until Jack spoke up. "Okay, time for cake!"

Everyone laughed and Daniel brought out the large sheet cake, decorated with pink roses and icing that spelled out 'Happy Birthday Vala!" on it.

Daniel placed a few candles in the cake and lit them before turning to Vala. "Make a wish beautiful."

Vala thought carefully about her wish. It took her a few moments to think of something because at that moment she was so happy that she couldn't even think of something that would make her life better.

Finally, she leaned forward and extinguished the candles in one blow.

"What did ya wish for Princess?" Cam cocked his head in curiosity.

She smirked back at him. "Nice try, I know that here on Earth, you are not supposed to tell what you wished for if you want it to come true." And she definitely wanted that wish to come true, wanted it more than anything.

Everyone dug into the cake, talking and laughing between mouthfuls.

Vala pulled her finger through the icing on her cake and held it up for Daniel to lick off. He blushed and tried to refuse.

"I...Vala...I don't..."

Cam scowled. "Oh come on Jackson, it's not like we haven't all been witness to one of your infamous makeout sessions in your office."

Cameron's statement made Daniel blush even harder, but he leaned forward and took Vala's finger in his mouth, licking off all of the icing.

Soon it was time for Vala to open her gifts. This was also a first for her. No one had ever given her any presents for her birthday, and it made her feel special to have all of her friends give her a present just because it was the day of her birth.

Vala received DVDs, lotions, perfumes, gift cards, and some CDs. She thanked everyone in turn and turned to the last small box.

Before she could pick it up, Daniel handed her a card. "Read this first."

She smiled and tore open the envelope.

Dear Vala,

I really hope you are enjoying your surprise birthday party. I know how much you like surprises and gifts, so I thought that a surprise party would be perfect. I also know that you grew up thinking that your birthday was nothing special, but it is. You are an Earth citizen now and we will celebrate your birthday every year like most people on Earth do. Even more than that though, it is a special day because I love you. You have come to mean so much to me and I don't want you to ever forget that. Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Love,

Daniel

P.S. Yes, you can open your gift now.

Vala giggled and gave Daniel a kiss before tearing into her gift from him.

The red wrapping paper tore off and she pulled out an oblong black velvet box. She looked up at Daniel, who smiled, before carefully opening the lid.

Her breath caught as she got her first look at the blue sapphire and white diamond bracelet set in white gold. She had never seen such a beautiful bracelet in her whole life. Not in any store, or any treasure cache. She carefully lifted it out of the box and held it up to the light, watching the gemstones sparkle.

"Do you like it?" Daniel looked over at Vala nervously.

"Like it? I love it! It's so beautiful darling." She launched herself at him, embracing him hard.

He smiled before helping her clasp the bracelet around her wrist. Sam took a picture of the happy couple, with Vala modeling her bracelet to the camera.

That was, by far, the best birthday that Vala had ever had.

Vala placed all three photos on the page in front of her. She then added decorations to the page, completing it.


	9. Picture 8: Busted!

The door to Vala's quarters creaked open slowly. Daniel poked his head in a second later.

"Hey, mind if I help you out for a little bit?" He entered the room and sat on the bed next to Vala.

She smiled. "Of course darling. I am starting a new page here and I need to find a good picture to go on it."

The couple searched through the photos until Vala came up with one and showed it to Daniel.

He shook his head and laughed. "Oh no. That one? Really?"

She nodded, laughing along with him. "Oh yes, definitely this one." She gazed down at the picture of Daniel sneaking a cookie off of the tray fresh from the oven.

Teal'c was planning on taking a long trip to go visit Ishta, he would be gone at least a month so the members of SG-1 decided to give him a little going away party.

Vala had recently become obsessed with baking. She learned to make cakes, brownies, pastries, and cookies, and she had become quite good at it. She offered to make some different kinds of cookies for the party. She planned on making chocolate ship, sugar, and peanut butter cookies with the brand new recipes she had gotten off of the internet.

Vala excitedly started baking on Thursday night. (They party was scheduled for Saturday.) She started with the chocolate chip cookies, easily making two dozen for the party. As soon as she had lifted the tray from the oven, Daniel had sauntered into the kitchen.

"Mmm, those smell really good." He reached for one, but she batted his hand away.

"Daniel! Those are for the party!"

He pouted. "No free sample?"

Vala frowned at him. "I don't think so mister, pouting only works when I do it to you."

He sighed. "Yeah, you're right."

Vala left the cookies to cool, but when she came back an hour later, a few were missing. She frowned. Daniel must have taken some when she was not paying attention.

Later on that night, she confronted him. "Did you eat some of the cookies?"

He blinked a few times before answering. "No...of course not."

She rolled her eyes at him. He was such a bad liar sometimes. "Right, so where did some of the cookies disappear to then?" Vala put her hands on her hips.

Daniel tried to keep a straight face. "Umm, I don't know. Maybe you miscounted them before?"

"I don't think so. I think you stole some."

He sidled up to her and kissed her soundly on her mouth. She knew that he was just trying to distract her, but she gave in anyway. She just loved the feel and taste of his kiss too much to resist.

Vala got up early the next day to finish her cookies. Daniel was at the SGC working on a translation and she figured that she should try to get as many cookies done as possible before he came home.

Several batches later, Daniel came back and once again walked into the kitchen.

"Sure I can't have any?"

Vala firmly shook her head. "No, definitely not."

Daniel just shrugged and walked off. However, Vala saw that once she had left the cookies alone again, a few mysteriously had gone missing.

Frustrated, Vala decided to catch Daniel in the act. Once she had finished the last batch of sugar cookies, she left them out to cool and got ready.

She found Daniel's digital camera and hid behind the kitchen wall, waiting for Daniel to come get the cookies.

She didn't have to wait long. A few minutes later, Daniel entered the kitchen, and after looking cautiously around him, went straight the cookies. Vala snickered and waited until he had picked one up before jumping out of her hiding place, snapping the photo, and yelling at Daniel. "Busted!"

Daniel jumped away from the cookies in shock. He then promptly turned bright red. "Vala! Hi, I umm...was just...umm...checking on the cookies for you!" He gave her his best innocent grin.

She shook her head. "I caught you Daniel! Don't try to deny it!"

He hung his head. "Yeah, I'm sorry, but your cookies are too good to resist."

He looked so sad and pitiful that she came over and kissed his cheek. "It's okay darling."

Daniel gazed at her sadly. "You forgive me then?"

She nodded, and then smiled. "Yes, I forgive you. You know I was going to make a batch just for you, but now that you have stolen so many of the ones for the party, I guess I'll just have to use that batch too."

Daniel's face fell as Vala smirked at him and started to package up the cookies.

"But...but."

Vala rolled her eyes. "Yes Daniel, you will have a big butt if you keep eating all of those cookies!"

Daniel sighed as he looked at the picture of himself. "Do you really have to use this one?"

She grinned and gave him a quick kiss. "Yes, you look so cute in this photo. My little thief."

"Now I'm the thief?" He chuckled.

She hit him playfully. "Apparently you are."


	10. Picture 9: Halloween

After Daniel had left, Vala continued on to the next page in her scrapbook. Looking through her photographs, she decided on the one of SG-1 and Jack all dressed up for the Halloween party that Vala had forced Daniel to let her have.

Vala was excited that she had finally convinced Daniel to have a small Halloween party at their house. She was starting to think that he would never give in, but she was stubborn and had finally won out in the end.

Vala and Sam decided to go Halloween costume shopping together at the seasonal Halloween store. The store was humongous and held everything from costumes, to fake blood, wigs, masks, and decorations as well.

They browsed the aisles looking for the perfect costumes.

"I have no idea what I want to be!" Vala pouted and rifled through the costumes on the shelf.

Sam held up a sexy devil costume. "How about this? I'll bet it would look great on you."

Vala shook her head. "No, too easy. I want something unique, but also something that Daniel won't be able to keep his eyes off of."

Sam smiled at her friend. "Ah, I see."

Vala continued on her quest for the perfect costume, quickly discarding the naughty nurse, police woman, hippie, maid, and witch. None of those costumes would be too appealing to Daniel. He was odd when it came to what he really liked, and she wanted something perfect for him to enjoy.

While Vala was busy considering her options, Sam finally picked out her costume and held it up for Vala to see. "What do you think of this one?"

Vala scrutinized the black leather outfit and odd mask with cat ears on it. "You are going to be a cat with a mask?"

Sam giggled. "No, I am going to be Catwoman. She is a character in the Batman franchise, and since Jack is going as Batman, I thought Catwoman might be an appropriate costume for me."

Vala frowned. "I thought Jack was going to be that yellow guy from that cartoon he watches?"

"Homer Simpson?"

"Yeah, him."

Sam sighed. "Well, he was, but only if I would go as Marge, Homer's wife. I was not going to be a yellow cartoon with big blue hair so Jack changed his mind."

"Oh, I see."

Vala spent nearly an hour looking through the various costumes to no avail. None of them were just right. She was walking out of the store when she saw a Cleopatra costume, it reminded her of the Goa'uld. The gears in Vala's mind starting turning and she quickly came up with an idea for her costume.

The day of the party, Vala went to Sam's house to get ready. Her costume only consisted of a small white tube top, white shorts, sand colored body paint, and black body paint. She had already painted her top and shorts all over, so after she was dressed, Sam had to help her with the next part.

About a half an hour later, the two arrived at the party, the last to arrive. Sam came in the door first and quickly found her Batman. Vala walked in after her and surveyed her friends' costumes.

Jack, of course, was Batman, already cuddling up with Catwoman Sam. Teal'c had gone as Darth Vader, one of his favorite villains from his favorite movies. Cameron must have gone along with the Jaffa, because he was dressed as Luke Skywalker, already battling Darth Vader with fake light sabers.

The men all stopped and stared at Vala.

"What are you supposed to be?" Cameron cocked his head to the side as he looked at Vala.

She just smiled. "Wait until Daniel comes down and I will tell all of you at once."

Daniel arrived just then. "I'm here, I'm here, what's going...wow."

His jaw dropped as he took in the sight of Vala before him. She was wearing barely anything , but that wasn't what caught Daniel's eye. She was covered in writing, Goa'uld writing to be exact, and her body had been painted the color of sand.

She walked over to Daniel. "I wanted a costume that would make you want to look at me all night, so this is what I came up with." She motioned her hand over her body. "I am a pyramid wall, with a mystery written in Goa'uld on me."

Daniel smirked as he gazed at her. "Well, I have to say that a pyramid wall with Goa'uld writing on it is definitely going to have my attention all night."

Vala grinned before finally taking in what Daniel was wearing. "A doctor? How unoriginal darling."

"Hey! I thought it would be a nice play on words. Like, you know, Doctor Jackson?"

She shook her head at him. "Nowhere near as creative as mine."

"I agree, now let me get a look at this writing, I have some translating to do."

Vala giggled as Daniel blatantly ogled her body to try to translate what she had written.

The rest of the party went by in a happy blur as everyone ate, drank, and laughed.

At one point, Teal'c had come over to Vala to read the Goa'uld writing on her body. She felt herself blush as he quickly understood the meaning of what she had wrote. She half expected him to say something to her about it, but he just raised his eyebrow at her before going back to another light saber fight with Cam.

Near the end of the party, Daniel finally had had enough time between socializing and eating, to translate all of the writing on Vala's body. It took him all of two minutes to announce that the party was over and everyone had to leave. It took only seconds after the last person left for Daniel to scoop Vala up and take her to their bedroom. He had correctly translated the last of the writings.

As Vala pasted the picture on her new, Halloween themed page, she recalled what she had written on her body. 'Good things come to those who wait, but if you want your treasure now, it's underneath these clothes."


	11. Picture 10: Friendly Comfort

When Vala found the picture of her being goofy with Cameron, tears welled up in her eyes. The memory of how that photo came to be wasn't the best, but she loved the picture of her and Cameron so she decided to put the photo in her scrapbook anyway.

It was SG-1's day off when Vala decided to accompany Daniel to the SGC so that he could work on translating a new artifact that they had found the week before. The strange tablet from P8J-783 was very old and crumbling, just like Daniel liked. More importantly, it had some odd language on it that Daniel had never encountered before.

Vala was amazed that there were still languages in the galaxy that the great Daniel Jacksin still did not know. He just couldn't get enough of the dusty old artifact, so thus, there they were on their day off, in his office.

Vala quickly got bored, wondering why she just didn't stay home and watch movies. Daniel wasn't exactly the most talkative person in the world when he had his mind set on something, so he had had his head buried in the artifact for about two hours when Vala lost it.

She sauntered over to Daniel and pushed the artifact aside so that he would pay attention to her. "I'm so bored Daniel!"

He looked up at her, anger and frustration clear in his eyes. "You didn't have to come Vala! You're the one who said 'I want to come with you darling! I'll miss you too much!' Well, you are stuck here now until I'm done so go find something to amuse yourself." He waved his hand dismissively at her.

She took a sharp breath. She knew that Daniel was in his little 'archeology zone' as she liked to call it, but he was being awful harsh to her and she wasn't about to let him get away with it.

"Is it too much to ask that we do something fun on our day off?"

He gazed up at her again, obviously beyond annoyed. "This is fun! I mean I have never seen a language like this before! Can't you think about anybody else besides yourself?"

He had cut the wound deeper. Yes, it was true that Vala Mal Doran could be selfish at times, but she was working to remedy that. Besides, he had promised that they would go have a picnic in the park on one of their days off, and she had been hoping to go today when he was done. Now, that seemed unlikely.

"Me? I'm being selfish? You're the one who puts old dirty artifacts before our relationship! You were supposed to take me on a picnic some day, did you forget that? Or maybe you just took the artifact in my place? If you could have sex with your dusty relics, you would probably just date them! Wouldn't you?"

Daniel slammed down his pen and stood to face Vala. His blue eyes burned into her like fire. "You are so ridiculous! And no, I wouldn't date an artifact if I could have sex with it. I'm not obsessed with sex like you are! How many men have you slept with? Fifty? A hundred? More?"

Vala felt her eyes burning with the tears that she refused to shed. "Don't...don't you start with that bullshit! You know very well that the majority of the men that I was with was because of Qetesh! I am not some whore and I don't like you insinuating that I am one! I'm trying really hard to make this relationship work between us. I'm not used to having a steady relationship with someone whom I genuinely care for okay?"

Daniel crossed his arms. "I don't know what to think anymore. Maybe we shouldn't have gotten into this. Maybe we are too different."

Vala took a step back from him, shocked. "Wh...what are you saying?" Her mind was reeling, was Daniel going to break things off with her? Her heart was breaking at the mere thought of being without him.

He sighed. "I don't know Vala. I just don't know."

She didn't want to hear anymore. She ran out of the room, tears streaming from her face.

Neither Sam nor Teal'c was around that day, but she thought she had seen Cameron come in earlier so she quickly ran to his quarters and knocked.

"Come in!"

Vala opened the door to find Cam lying on his bed reading a magazine.

"Hey Mitchell."

He didn't look up from his magazine. "Go bother Jackson."

She sniffled loudly and he finally looked up and saw her red, teary face.

"Princess? What's wrong?" He threw down the magazine and walked over to her, clearly concerned.

Vala ran into his arms and Cameron hugged her back hesitantly.

"Daniel...he...I...oh I don't know what to do!" She buried her face in his chest as she cried.

Cam just held her for a bit before setting her back. "Hey, tell me what happened okay?"

She nodded and told him what had happened between her and Daniel, and how she thought he might leave her.

Cam smiled at her. "Look, me and Jackson have been good friends for a while now and trust me when I say he is crazy about you."

Vala couldn't stop crying. "More like I drive him crazy."

Cam chuckled a little. "Well, yes, but what I meant is that he loves you. He really does. He never shuts up about you, it's kinda annoying actually."

Vala gave her friend a weak smile. "Really? You don't think he will leave me?"

He shook his head. "Never. Jackson is head over heels in love with you."

She looked up at him. "Like in those sappy romantic movies?"

"Worse."

Vala giggled lightly.

"I came in to work on my mission reports, but got side tracked when I found this magazine I was looking for. Did you want to stay here with me until Jackson has calmed down?"

She nodded and took a seat in one of the chairs by his small table. He sat across from her and took out his chess set.

"Wanna play?"

Vala scrunched up her face. She wasn't very good at chess. "Okay, but go easy on me."

The pair played for a good while and when Vala was waiting for Cameron to take his turn, she noticed his digital camera sitting on one of his shelves. She picked it up and brought it over.

"Take a picture with me? Something silly that will make me feel better?"

Cameron looked pensive for a second before nodding. "Okay, come over here."

She perched on his lap and they stuck their tongues out at the camera for the photo.

Daniel chose that moment to barge in the room.

Vala sprung away from Cameron quickly, but not quick enough. Daniel was outraged. He went straight over to Cameron and punched him in the face.

Vala went over and caught Daniel before he could do any more damage. "Darling! Stop!"

He ignored her and got back in Cam's swiftly bruising face. "What the hell? She's mine! Mine! What were you trying to do Mitchell?"

"N...nothing! I swear!"

Vala turned Daniel back to her. "He didn't do anything Daniel. He was just comforting me because I was upset. We were playing chess and then I asked him to take a silly picture with me. That's all."

His face relaxed. "Oh." He turned back to Cameron. "Sorry man, I just let my emotions get the best of me I guess."

"You owe me a beer Jackson, or a whole case."

Daniel and Vala left Cam's room to talk alone in the hallway.

"I'm so sorry Vala, I didn't mean to be such a jerk. I'm still learning to be in a relationship as well. I had almost forgotten after so many years."

Vala gave Daniel a small smile. "I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have came here if I wasn't going to be patient."

He pulled her close. "No, you have nothing to apologize for, I was being an asshole, plain and simple. I never want to be without you Vala. You are my everything."

Vala usually wasn't one to forgive so easily, but looking into Daniel's eyes, she saw that he was sincere. He really was sorry and he really did love her. She closed the distance between them and pressed her lips against his in a sweet kiss.

"I forgive you darling. Can we go on a picnic now?"

He laughed and agreed, and the couple left the SGC together, hand in hand.

Vala smiled at the bittersweet memory. The tears she had felt earlier faded away as she remembered their lovely picnic, and the makeup sex that had come afterward.


	12. Picture 11: A Special Christmas

Vala looked down at the next picture she was going to place in her scrapbook. It was a great memory, one that she would never forget.

Vala was very excited to spend Christmas with Daniel and the rest of her friends. She really loved the holidays, the celebrating, decorations, and of course gifts.

She went a bit overboard on everyone's presents, wanting the perfect gift for each of her friends. She spent almost all of her savings buying everything, but it didn't matter, she just wanted to make her friends happy.

Vala sang along to Christmas songs on the radio as she decorated the Christmas tree with Daniel. He had long ago explained the concept of Christmas to her, and even though she didn't quite understand how Santa Claus and reindeer and presents had anything to do with a Tau'ri religious figure being born, she liked the holiday all the same.

Daniel came up behind her and handed her a box. "I got this new ornament just yesterday, why don't you open it and put it on the tree?" His blue eyes sparkled as he smiled at her.

Vala took the box from him and carefully opened it to reveal a glass heart with their names engraved on it, surrounding by several more hearts. "Oh Daniel, it's beautiful. You are so sweet!" She leaned over and kissed his cheek before placing the ornament near the middle of the tree.

The couple finished their decorating just in time for Jack, Sam, Cameron, Carolyn, and Teal'c to arrive, arms full of wrapped gifts.

Daniel helped them all in and placed the gifts under the tree.

"Whoa, did you go a little overboard with the decorations Princess?" Cameron surveyed the very festive room before him.

Vala laughed. "I got a little carried away. I just love Christmas!"

"I can see that." He chuckled at the moving Santa on the coffee table.

Vala and Daniel had prepared an enormous amount of food for their party and they somehow squeezed everybody around the table to eat.

Food and champagne were passed amongst the friends as they talked and shared memories about their previous Christmases. Vala felt a bit left out, she had no memories to share.

Daniel looked at her sullen face and seemed to read her mind. "Don't worry, you will make Christmas memories of your own this year."

She smiled at him. "Thank you darling."

When dinner was finished, the ladies began to clear the table as the men moved to the living room.

Sam rolled her eyes at the retreating backsides of the guys. "Men. Always leaving all of the work for the women to do."

Carolyn and Vala giggled and agreed as they placed plates into the dishwasher.

Vala was not well known for her patience, and tonight was no exception. She really wanted to know what Daniel had gotten her for Christmas. She had searched their house far and wide and found nothing. Even after they had wrapped the gifts for their friends, she still didn't see one from Daniel to her.

"Hey Sam?"

The blonde turned to look at Vala. "Yes?"

"Did Daniel tell you what he got me?" Vala gave Sam her best 'please tell me' look.

Sam shook her head. "I'm not telling you Vala, but I will say that I am pretty sure that you will like it."

Vala considered Sam's answer for a moment and tried to ponder what Daniel could have possibly gotten for her.

The women soon joined the men in the living room to exchange gifts. Everyone seemed to be happy with what they had gotten and Daniel really liked the old books she had found for him, even though to her they seemed like they would be a bore to read.

Vala looked under the tree and found that all of the gifts had been given out and she still had nothing from Daniel.

"Darling? Umm...I don't want to sound selfish or anything, but didn't you get me anything?" Vala bit her lip as she looked at Daniel.

He gave her a small smile as an unknown emotion flickered across his eyes. "Of course I did. Close your eyes, it's a surprise."

Vala did as she was told. A moment later she heard Daniel whispering to the others. She thought she heard him swear and ask where her gift went to. She resisted the urge to peak and a few minutes later Daniel spoke up again.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Her eyes fluttered open to see Daniel down on one knee in front of her. He had a small black box in his hand and a look of extreme anxiety on his face.

Before he could say a word, Vala's hands went to cover her mouth in shock. Was he proposing?

Daniel cleared his throat. "Vala, I know that we haven't been officially dating for a very long time, but I love you and I would be honored if you would be my wife. Over the past few years that I have known you, we have grown close in so many ways. I know that it took me a while to realize that we should be together, but now that I have I never want to let you go. Will you marry me?"

He flipped open the box to show off the beautiful diamond ring inside.

Vala was still in a state of shock. She felt everyone looking at her, waiting for her to answer.

She took a deep breath. "Yes! Yes of course I'll marry you!"

Daniel got up and placed the ring on her finger before gathering her in his arms for a passionate kiss.

Vala felt tears of joy streaming down her face as she happily kissed Daniel back. She remembered her birthday wish a few months ago, she had wished to be Daniel's wife someday, and now she was one step closer to having it come true.

Vala happily pasted the picture of Daniel proposing to her in her scrapbook. She had not even realized that Carolyn had taken the picture until much later when she had given it to her. She held up her hand to inspect her beautiful engagement ring, soon to be accompanied by a wedding ring.


	13. Picture(s) 12: A Wish Come True

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter is extremely sappy. Like cavity inducing sugary sweet. You have been warned.

Six months later...

Vala had finally gotten back the pictures of her wedding with Daniel. She found her scrapbook to add a few of her favorites on the remaining pages. She carefully shuffled through the photographs until she found the ones that she wanted. First, was the entire wedding party; Vala, Daniel, Sam, Jack, Teal'c, Cam, Carolyn, and Cassie. The second picture was their first kiss as husband and wife. The third picture was Vala and Daniel gazing happily into each others eyes as they swayed along to their first dance. The fourth photo consisted of Vala smashing cake into Daniel's face. The final photo that Vala had chosen was a candid one that Cam had shot. It showed Daniel carrying Vala in his arms on the way to his car when the reception was over. She pasted the pictures down and went to decorate the page.

The day of the wedding, Vala was a nervous wreck. Her dress fit perfectly, her hair was done up to her liking, and everything seemed to be in place. However, she couldn't actually believe that she was going to be Mrs. Jackson in just a few hours.

Sam, Carolyn, and Cassie had all dressed in their hot pink bridesmaid attire, and they were currently helping Vala lace up the corset back of her dress.

"I'm so nervous, what if Daniel changes his mind and doesn't show up?" Vala started to feel light headed and hot all over.

Sam chuckled as she laced up the last ribbon and pulled tight. "Don't be silly Vala. Daniel loves you! He would never leave you at the altar, or ever for that matter."

"Yeah," Carolyn chimed in. "Trust us when we say that you have nothing to worry about, especially when he sees how beautiful you look!"

Vala sighed and gave her friends a small smile. "Thank you. I really appreciate all that you have done for me and this wedding."

Shortly after, the ceremony began and Vala stood, waiting for her turn to walk down the aisle. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest as she began to walk. She quickly found Daniel, standing by his groomsmen, and grinning at her. He was there, he really showed up to marry her.

Vala reached the end of the walkway and Daniel took her hand.

During the ceremony, Daniel never took his eyes off of Vala. She saw the deep love reflected in his baby blue eyes and she knew that her eyes were showing the same to him.

Her nervousness faded away as she concentrated on Daniel.

Their first kiss as a newly married couple was amazing. She figured that Daniel would probably just give her a small peck on the lips, but she was mistaken. His mouth took hers passionately and she couldn't help the small squeak of surprise from coming out of her mouth. Daniel deepened the kiss and even dipped her before breaking away.

Vala decided to ignore the snickers coming from Jack and Cameron., she was too happy to care.

Later at the reception, Vala and Daniel ate, danced, and smashed cake into each others faces. Vala remembered how she had done the very same thing to Daniel at Cameron's birthday party, just months ago.

Another slow song came on, and Daniel happily took Vala into his arms.

"I can't believe I just married the crazy space pirate who beat me up on the Prometheus." Daniel smiled as he pulled his wife closer.

Vala giggled lightly. "I can't believe I married the man who stripped me naked on the first day that we met!"

He chuckled. "Hey now, I told you I didn't look."

"Yes you did."

He shook his head. "No, I really...okay yes, I did look."

Vala slapped him playfully on his arm. "Naughty naughty Daniel!"

He laughed again and whispered in her ear. "Just wait until tonight, I'll really show you how naughty I can be."

Her eyes went wide at his statement. "Sounds good to me darling."

As the end of the night was coming to an end, Vala thought about how her wish had actually come true. She actually married Daniel, the man of her dreams. The man who challenged her and made her a better person. The man who loved her for her, a wonko alien who would always annoy him and bicker with him, but would love him with every fiber of her being.

Finished with her decorating, Vala closed her scrapbook. There was still one page left, but for now, she was happy with the way it was. The book was a way for her to remember cherished memories with her friends and new husband, and she was glad that she had taken the time to complete it.


	14. Epilogue

One year later...

Vala quickly unlocked the door to her and Daniel's house and rushed inside. She immediately went over to the tall oak bookshelf in the living room and pulled out her scrapbook.

Daniel stepped into the house a moment later, carrying their groceries.

"What's the rush Vala?" He set down the bags and went over to where she was sitting.

Vala glanced up at him. "Oh, I just remembered that I had one more page left in my scrapbook, and now I have the perfect photo for it."

"Are you going to help me put away our groceries?"

She waved her hand at him. "Later darling, this is important."

Daniel just shook his head and chuckled as he put the milk and eggs in the refrigerator.

Vala smiled as she pulled the picture out of her purse. It may not have been the best quality photo, but it was definitely the most important one.

Vala walked nervously into Daniel's office at the SGC. He was sitting at his desk, working on his last mission report, looking adorable as always.

"Darling?" She shuffled closer to him.

He looked up at her. "Yes?"

"Can we umm...talk?" Vala bit her lip.

Daniel immediately stopped his work and stood up. "What is it? Did Dr. Lam know what is wrong with you?"

Vala nodded. "Yes, she figured it out."

"Well? It isn't anything serious is it?" Daniel's blue eyes were full of concern for his wife.

"Yes, actually it is serious."

Daniel looked frantic. "What is it? Is it curable? What's going on?"

Vala took his hands and held them in her own. "Daniel, I'm pregnant."

Shock registered over his face. "Pregnant? I thought you said it was something serious?"

"Having a baby is a very serious thing!"

He chuckled at her. "No, no. That isn't what I meant. I'm sorry."

She was getting nervous again. "Umm, so are you happy about this?"

His face lit up. "Of course! I'm going to be a daddy! " He rubbed Vala's belly lightly and smiled at her.

Vala grinned back at her husband. "You will be a great daddy. I just hope I can be a good mommy."

Daniel hugged her and kissed her forehead. "You will be an amazing mother, I know it. I love you so much."

"I love you too Daniel."

Vala pasted the ultrasound picture of her and Daniel's baby onto the last page in her scrapbook. Soon, they would be finding out if they were having a boy or girl, and she was excited. She closed her scrapbook, already thinking of her next project. A baby book.


End file.
